Thiswas a show of my own strength.
Someone had to die for this transgression. Going after Athena seemed wrong because she might just be her mother’s pawn in this. So I had to go after her mother, then.
The four offenders were on the move again.
Athena veered in a different direction with one hooded figure.
Hortensia stayed close to the other in a cloak.
I moved closer to hear over the music what they were saying.
“Your daughter fucked this up.”
“Shut up, Umar. She’s nothing without me, and you know that. You sent her off to control the human, and you didn’t tell me. I would have insisted one of us keep an eye on her. She is still young, no matter how smart she is.”
“You think she’ll do whatever you tell her, Tensia?”
“Yes, she will. She’s my creation, and she knows it. She doesn’t care for the crown, but she understands I do. All I have to do is kill that twat and mate with Nial.” Her head moved again, scanning the room for my flowers and hair. She gave a pouty stomp of her foot. “Where the hell did that bitch go?”
Umar snorted. “You’ll never control Niallan. You know that. He will string you up by your toes and drain the blood from your groin so you can drown in it as it fills your nostrils.”
Her face twisted. “Must you be so gross?”
“I’m a vampire, you stupid cunt. Lest you forget, I regularly rip throats for pleasure.”
“Hunting.” She shivered in revulsion. “Oh, there! There she is!”
The two of them marched into the parlor where there were a lot more vertical bodies around to hide my smaller stature. I saw the hair and flowers moving happily through the crowd, stopping to say hello to people, and bobbing on.
Hortensia and Umar were watching and closing in on my wig and flowers. They were careful and stuck to the darkest shadows. They got very close before they made their move to grab the woman wearing my hair.
Umar wrapped an arm around the waist of the woman and pulled her back into the dark. I could still see the flash of steel, a dagger at her throat. He hissed, “Hello, Gwynnore.”
The poor woman was startled and terrified, and I made my move.
I wrapped my arm around Hortensia’s shoulder. “Why, hello, Tensia. How are you?”
I poked the sword into her back, delight spreading through my blood as she gasped in shock.
Umar spun, dragging the woman around with him. He was clearly stunned.
I grinned at him. “Did you really think I would be that vulnerable after tasting poisoned blood and watching the man die on the dance floor?”
“You bitch,” Hortensia ground out.
“Me? You sent a poisoned human into the Blood Rite. How many vampires are now dead because they tasted him before the poison was fully bloomed, huh? You don’t deserve the crown you covet, and you sure as hell haven’t earned it.”
“Let her go,” Umar demanded. “I’ll kill this little human bitch.”
“You mistake me for my friend.” I snorted. “I don’t make pets of humans.”
He drew the knife across her neck, and she dropped to the floor, gurgling her last breath through her gouged throat. I stared at him standing there, licking the knife as he smirked. Umar asked candidly, “And you’re not bothered by that?”
“Not even remotely.” I wasn’t sugary sweet and shit.
He pulled out a gun and pointed it at me. “How about this?”
I twitched an eyebrow. “I don’t know… How about this?”
